


The Choices We Make

by cosmic_llin



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: Communication, Episode Tag, F/F, Gen, Light Angst, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-24 19:01:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18168830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmic_llin/pseuds/cosmic_llin
Summary: Ada discovers a secret Hecate has been keeping.





	The Choices We Make

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers up to the end of S3.

Part of taking over as headmistress of the academy was assuming responsibility for all of the spells laid on and around it - a complex tapestry of protections and wards and spells for keeping informed on everything that happened around the castle and its grounds. The exchange itself had been part ceremony and part business meeting - Ada’s mother had handed her the tangled threads of decades of built-up spells with an apologetic look.

‘They used to be neater than this,’ she said. ‘It’s so easy to lose track.’

Ada had been determined to make a clean start, so she locked herself in her office, took some deep breaths, and closed her eyes, the better to see the strands of magic and figure out exactly what spells she was now responsible for.

At first it had been nothing unexpected - a safety charm here, a locking spell there. A few were spells that should long ago have been broken and had most likely simply been forgotten - a spell to stabilise a dining table that had been replaced years before, a spell to guard against wasps that had only really been necessary the summer a nest had been found in the grounds. Those she released, feeling the magic spiral back out into the world.

And then she found something that made bile rise in her throat. It couldn’t be. It was impossible. She pulled back from the spell tangle in horror, pressing her hand to her mouth.

* * *

Hecate, when she found her, was calmly preparing some potion ingredients for the flocks of students who would soon be arriving.

‘Ada?’ she said, looking up as Ada flung the door open. ‘What’s the matter?’

‘Hecate,’ said Ada, her voice trembling, ‘why did you never tell me that you were bound to the Academy?’

There was a long, terrible silence. Hecate stared at her, pale as a ghost. Her hand clawed at the back of a chair.

‘I… it didn’t seem important,’ she said at last, not meeting Ada’s eyes. ‘I... I was grounded for an infraction as a girl, and I suppose your mother just never remembered to lift the spell, and I never asked. As it turned out I had no need to leave the Academy anyway. It... it was hardly worth mentioning it. I’ve never wanted to go anywhere else.’

‘Not worth _mentioning it_?! Hecate, do you mean to tell me that you’ve been confined to the grounds for all the time I’ve known you, and longer?’

Hecate gave one of the little shrugs that she always did when her feelings were too complicated for words to explain.

‘Well, I’m lifting the spell now,’ said Ada. ‘And I can only offer my deep regret that it was not done before now. If I’d...’

‘No!’ said Hecate, reaching towards her, panic in her eyes. ‘Please... don’t lift the spell.’

‘Why on earth not?’

‘It’s... I... I can’t explain. But I don’t want the spell lifted.’

‘Is someone coercing you? Are you in some sort of trouble?’

‘Nothing like that, I promise you. Please, Ada - trust me?’

‘You know I do,’ said Ada. ‘It’s not that I don’t trust you. I’m just… worried.’

‘Don’t be,’ said Hecate. ‘Everything is as it should be.’

‘I very much doubt that,’ said Ada, but Hecate gave her a pained look and then turned her whole body back to her work, an unmistakable dismissal.

* * *

For the next few days, things were strange between them, both of them too aware of the things they weren’t saying. Hecate was briskly efficient, as though she wanted to prove to Ada how absolutely fine this whole situation was, and how absolutely fine _she_ was.

Ada couldn’t sleep thinking about it. Now that she knew the spell was there she could feel it, woven in with all the others. What could have made Hecate so determined to be bound to the castle? What had happened to her? How was it possible that she’d managed all these years without ever setting foot outside the grounds?

What should Ada do about it? What _could_ she do about it?

It was clear that there would be no answer forthcoming from Hecate.

* * *

‘I don’t want you to pity me,’ said Hecate softly, as they checked through the new students’ admission forms in Ada’s office one afternoon. ‘I couldn’t stand that. I know I haven’t given you much of an explanation, but please believe me that this is what I’ve chosen, and I’m content with it. There’s nowhere but here I want to be.’

She didn’t look at Ada, just carried on going through her checklist.

Ada reached across the pile of paperwork and took Hecate’s hand. Hecate looked up and met Ada’s eyes, her gaze clear and determined.

‘I suppose I can accept that,’ Ada said at last. ‘But only if you promise me that you’ll come to me the _instant_ you want the spell lifted.’

‘That won’t happen.’

‘Still.’

Hecate nodded. ‘All right.’

‘And…’ Ada took a deep breath, ‘I’d like to modify the spell so that it will automatically end in the event of my death.’

Hecate’s eyes widened. ‘Ada, there’s no need to…’

‘I mean it, Hecate. I won’t leave your fate in someone else’s hands. You’ll have no peace from me until you agree.’

For a moment she thought Hecate would refuse. She felt like crying. Perhaps her tears would be more effective than her arguments.

But Hecate nodded slowly. ‘All right,’ she said. ‘If that will satisfy you.’

‘It won’t,’ said Ada. ‘But it’s close enough, for now.’

‘Good,’ said Hecate. ‘Good. I don’t want things to be different between us. I… I’ve come to value our friendship a great deal.’

She lowered her gaze, as though she’d said something embarrassing. Ada felt a rush of affection that warmed her skin.

‘So have I,’ she said. ‘And I can’t promise that this won’t change anything, but I’ll try my very best for you.’

‘That’s all anyone could ever ask,’ said Hecate.

She turned back to her checklist, and Ada took the hint. They worked side by side until the moon rose.

**Author's Note:**

> So I wish S03E12 had been clearer about what exactly the deal was with Hecate's confinement, but I think it's fairly clear from context that it was her choice to be freed from it, and therefore presumably her choice to remain confined until that point. This is just my initial idea about some of the background to that.


End file.
